Scarpa toe box change for the worst

I am a little disappointed how Scarpa has changed the toe. I have the new and old Scarpa vapor laces and the old ones seemed to push the toe better onto the rubber and have more of a sloping angle. A little annoyed that these shoes don't edge as well and the toe seems to wear out faster than previous models. It's still, my favorite shoe just wish they didn't round out the toe and put super thing rubber on it. Does anyone have the same issues with other models?

Is that sole new? Looks way rounded and the rand is sticking out too much. How aggressively are you downsizing? I have a pair of older women's vapor Vs and they're perfect. Was looking forward to trying the new ones. 

They are definitely blunter in the toe box (which is good for me). Those do look like the rand is over blown. Just my 5¢ but downsizing in these isn't the best. I think they pushed for a more relaxed vibe for longer days and dialed back the performance a little. They have other shoes better for more aggressive sizing and single pitch/bouldering. It's unfortunate if the last gen worked well for you but I'll take having some catalog diversity, especially since they lack many all day performers prior to the redesign

Check out this thread

Hmmm. The blue models Vapor Lace appears to have already been replaced with a new 2022 gray color. Scarpa's been pretty quiet about changes to the shoe (and the reason for the immediate update), but I wonder if fine-tuning details like this could be the reason why?

My previous yellow vapor laces where down sized a whole size smaller than the newer blue ones. The ones pictures are on the first sole. I’m hoping a Scarpa rep sees this. As I can feel a noticeable difference in edging and being able to step on micro crystals between the old and new. I think the old ones excelled as if you wanted to downsize and get a high level of performance you could but if you wanted an all day shoe you could also upsize and it really hits the best of both worlds. I think all they really need to do is stiffen the toe section with harder rubber so it lasts longer and forced your toe in a better and change the angle from 90 degrees to a more acute angle so it drives the toe better over the sole. 

Andre Chiang wrote:

My previous yellow vapor laces where down sized a whole size smaller than the newer blue ones. The ones pictures are on the first sole. I’m hoping a Scarpa rep sees this.......... I think all they really need to do is stiffen the toe section with harder rubber so it lasts longer and forced your toe in a better and change the angle from 90 degrees to a more acute angle so it drives the toe better over the sole. 

Is there a harder rubber than the XS Edge already on the shoe? Stiffening a shoe is best done with different mid sole material, not rubber.

A Scarpa rep ain't gonna reply or run back to Italy with the news that one MP user doesn't like the newer version of a shoe. When I demo'ed the 2021 Vapor lace (the OP's version) in a gym, the Scarpa rep looked at me like I was the biggest idiot on the planet when I said that "I wish they were stiffer/edged better."

I don't know what happened to the Vapors but I do know that Scarpa really softened the new Boostic compared to the old (lots of discussion of that on this forum), and they changed the sizing (which is super annoying and arbitrary).

Best guess is their Euro athletes and shoe designers complain that these shoes are too stiff to "feel" limestone so they soften them. Sounds like the current Vapor lace (the 2022 version) made be a touch stiffer.

Rexford Nesakwatch wrote:

Best guess is their Euro athletes and shoe designers gym climbers complain that these shoes are too stiff to "feel" limestone  plastic so they soften them. 

Fixed. But for real, I feel like gym users are a huge portion of the market these days and Scarpa (as well as other brands) are going softer and softer to cater to that market.